The present invention relates to a panel seal structure including a seal mounted around a circumferential edge of a panel for use in covering an opening formed in a vehicle body.
Sunroofs in vehicles are well known and typically include a stationary roof panel and a movable panel. The stationary roof panel of the vehicle body is formed with an opening. The movable panel has a plate glass or a steel plate that is provided slidably in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle to open or close the opening. This type of sunroof also has a seal member for preventing rainwater from entering into the vehicle by closely placing the seal member in contact with an inner circumferential edge of the opening. In one related art application, the seal member is mounted around an outer circumferential edge of the panel body (refer to JP-A-8-113040).
In many applications, however, it is desirable to use a so-called flush surface structure in which the upper surface of the seal member, the upper surface of the movable panel, and the upper surface of the stationary roof panel of the vehicle body are flush and continuous with one another. This flush surface structure is used to suppress wind noise when the movable panel is in a closed position, and also has the added benefit of making the vehicle look more attractive.
To realize this flush surface structure, a structure has been already employed for some commercially available vehicles in which a synthetic resin frame having the junctions of the seal member is injection molded around the outer circumferential edge of the panel body (refer to JP-A-6-191280).
With this related art structure, however, the synthetic resin frame must be outsert molded onto the panel body. Therefore, when using this method, there is a very narrow range for absorbing manufacturing errors of the panel body. As such, because of the necessity of precision manufacturing of the panel body, the manufacturing process becomes complex and manufacturing costs are increased.